Tu Fawning

Biography

Tu Fawning is a Portland, Oregon four piece band started by Corrina Repp and Joe Haege, augmented soon after its inception by members Liza Rietz and Toussaint Perrault. Haege (current member of Menomena and founder of 31knots) was a longtime fan of Repp's hushed and understated emotional approach to songwriting, which has always had a strong following in Portland. This brought them to work together on Repp's last solo album, which was the first "outside" release for Mark Kozelek's (Red House...

Tu Fawning is a Portland, Oregon four piece band started by Corrina Repp and Joe Haege, augmented soon after its inception by members Liza Rietz and Toussaint Perrault. Haege (current member of Menomena and founder of 31knots) was a longtime fan of Repp's hushed and understated emotional approach to songwriting, which has always had a strong following in Portland. This brought them to work together on Repp's last solo album, which was the first "outside" release for Mark Kozelek's (Red House Painters) artist-owned Caldo Verde records. To the surprise of both of them, they found themselves crawling out of their respective shells to create a new and exciting process that was nowhere near its end.
Once the decision had been made to start a full blown project together, Repp and Haege quickly realized the strongest foundation they could call upon would be their mutual love for timeless melodies that are as catchy as they are otherworldly, replete with tribal beats that have passed through the hands and hearts of anyone in love with primal rhythm and cadence. Once Rietz (former member of Swords) and Perrault had joined the four piece found themselves all shedding old artistic skins and taking on new roles as musicians, from Miss Repp seamlessly holding her own with a new found prowess on the drums to Mr. Haege, a former "carnival barker" and screamer of prog-pop, writing four-part harmonies.
All of this is not to downplay the classically trained Rietz adding her refined sense of Melody and harmony on piano and organ, while bolstering the feel of the feminine presence, via vocals and percussion, showing that its woven into the fiber of the band and not just some showpiece stuck on top. Least of which, Toussaint Perrault's multi-instrumentalist chops and ear for a great horn hook, they have stumbled into the unknown and come out the other side with a sound unto themselves. Delivering a live show with all four members trading drum, singing and melodic duties from song to song, it comes across with the grace that almost seems almost ritualistic. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.